Above: A correctly prepared burn pile with a mineral firebreak raked around it and a pressurised water supply ready for use.

​SHIRE of Mundaring is urging residents to take better precautions when conducting burns on their properties after a staggering 41 incidents of escaped hazard reduction burns were reported last month.

The incidents, which were the result of fires not being properly extinguished and/or illegal burning, were all attended to by volunteer fire brigades with some burns taking volunteers hours to extinguish.

Mundaring Shire Chief Executive Jonathan Throssell said that escaped burns had caused an estimated $48,500 worth of property damage in the area since 1 April.

"Our local volunteer fire brigades have been increasingly called upon as a direct result of community members failing to properly extinguish burns on their properties," he said.

In many cases, residents had let burning piles 'fizzle out' naturally and had not followed the Shire's burning regulations which require all piles to be extinguished before midnight.

"Residents' failure to properly saturate the burn area with water once complete has meant many fires have continued to burn peat and roots underground, eventually becoming uncontained," said Mr Throssell.

"These escaped burns have not only damaged property belonging to residents and their neighbours but have incurred added costs of volunteer and local government time and resources."

The Shire is reminding residents to abide by the following steps in preparing for, conducting and extinguishing a burn:

Check list

Before you light up your 1sqm pile

Notify your neighbours.

Rake a bare earth (mineral earth) firebreak around the pile.

Have your garden hose laid out, pressurised and ready for use. Ensure the hose can reach the pile and beyond in case the fire spreads.

Check weather conditions. Check winds and temperature.

During the burn

Monitor smoke. If smoke is causing a nuisance or traffic hazard, reduce smoke or extinguish.

Make sure you contain your fire within your firebreak.

Always have a capable person in attendance close to the fire.

After the burn

Completely extinguish the fire by saturating it with water so it is cold with no steam and no smoke.

Inspect the next morning and continue monitoring for the next couple of days.

Leave the garden hose in the vicinity of the fire so if the fire does reignite the hose is ready to extinguish.

Mr Throssell said that while it was important that residents continue to reduce fuel loads on their properties through hazard reduction burns, it was paramount that the Shire's burning regulations be followed to ensure the safety of the community.

Residents who illegally burn, burn without a permit or do not extinguish a fire will be issued with a $250 infringement from the Shire. This excludes any prosecution for damages that the resident may be liable for under the Bushfires Act 1954 and where a magistrate may impose a fine up to $25,000.